DPP v Liu [2025] VCC 1688

1. Exhibit 1 on the plea was an agreed summary of prosecution opening setting out the circumstances of your offending. In brief they were as follows:
2. On 10 December 2024 police executed a search warrant at your home address. Having gained entry police found you at the door with an iPhone in your hand. Two apps were open and active on the iPhone: Teleguard and NordVPN3. The iPhone was seized along with a Buffalo hard drive and analysis of the two devices revealed the offending on this indictment.
3. Between 29 November 2024 and 2 December 2024 you engaged in seven chat conversations on the encrypted Teleguard application, including one conversation in a group chat. During those seven chats you transmitted a total of 21 child abuse files and caused 393 files to be sent to you. You also transmitted text-based child abuse material (Charge 1).
4. The content of the chats are set out in detail at paragraphs 21 - 58 of Exhibit 1. Charge 1 concerns your on-line chats on the encrypted Teleguard app for the four days between 29 November 2024 and 2 December 2024.
5. On 29 November 2024 you were in a chat with user FiddleDiddle: you discussed feeling horny and the sexual arousal you felt when 'there is so many little girls getting fucked'. After enquiring as to what turned your correspondent on you made an observation regarding your graphic desires. FiddleDiddle then sent an anime image depicting a 14‑year-old child being anally and orally penetrated and ejaculated over.
6. On the same day you spoke with user Rage 77 - having sought him out because you knew he had a lot of images on Pixiv (a file sharing platform). The chat continued until 2 December 2024. Rage 77 sent you two child abuse images on which your comments expressed your pleasure in no uncertain terms.
7. Following that expression of approval you and Rage 77 exchanged CAM material over the following days. In total you sent nine CAM images and files and text-based material and you received 47 files. The files that you received included a video of a real six-year-old child being orally penetrated by an adult penis and an anime file depicting a four-year-old female being anally penetrated by an adult male penis. The text-based child abuse material sent by you included graphic posts celebrating the violation of young children.
8. On 29 November 2024 you engaged with user Luftpipi, telling them that you had found him on Pixiv, asking what he was into and whether he had any limits, and informing him that your favourite age range is five to 10. You then asked 'do you trade' and sent an image of a real pre-pubescent child in a sexualised pose exposing her vagina and anus. Over the next few days you sent six and received 12 child abuse files. The files included a seven minute video of a prepubescent female child being vaginally penetrated by an adult male's penis. You asked Luftpipi if they were in a group.
9. On 30 November 2024 after accepting an invitation you received seven child abuse files: including images of pre-pubescent female children engaged in various sex acts. Your response was 'mmmm fuck'.
10. On 30 November 2024 you also engaged online with user Prometheus - whose details had been given you by Rage 77. Prometheus added you to the Pizzatime group chat and you introduced yourself to the group. You asked whether there were any rules to the group and were told that there were none. Prometheus then sent you 323 child abuse material files. The files included a close-up view of a six-year-old female child being anally penetrated by an adult male penis. Your response on receiving the files was: 'MMM fuck these are amazing'.
11. The following day, 1 December 2024, you uploaded six files of up to five minutes duration to the group chat. The files included pre‑pubescent female children being orally, vaginally and anally penetrated by adult male penises. There were 20 members of the Pizzatime group chat.
12. On 30 November 2024 you engaged with YoBruv Gooner from whom you received four child abuse files for which you expressed your appreciation, agreement and arousal.
13. Charge 2 concerns the one CAM file that was retrieved from your iPhone and the 229 child abuse material files retrieved from the Buffalo hard drive. In total there were 114 category 1 files/images and 116 category 2 files. The files included the oral/vaginal and anal penetration of children, and the penile/vaginal penetration of two four-year-old female children.
14. You participated in an record of interview, during which you maintained that your posts were 'role play; it's fiction; it's not...I don't condone that'. Following a filing hearing on 16 December 2024 resolution discussions commenced. The matter resolved at the second committal mention and proceeded by way of a straight hand up brief. Yours, I accept, was a plea of guilty entered at the earliest opportunity.

1. I now turn to your personal circumstances.
2. You were born in November 1995 and are now 30 years of age, and you were 29 at the time of this offending. You have no prior or pending criminal matters. You were born in Taipei, the middle child in a sibship of three. Your family upbringing was described to me as traditional. Your father ran a timber business and travelled often. Your mother managed the administrative side of the business and brought up the children. You reported your early childhood as relatively positive and you often spent time with your large extended family. You noted that your grandmother was an integral figure in your upbringing. You were an excellent student academically, and you also excelled at sport. When you were nine, your parents received a threat of your kidnap from a disgruntled former employee. Unsurprisingly it left your parents unsettled and it informed their decision to emigrate to Australia when you were 12. The family settled in Brisbane.
3. Once in Australia you struggled adjusting to your new environment, often feeling isolated and anxious, and, in the education setting, conscious of your poor English proficiency. These feelings of being an outsider were added to by your father's frequent travel to Taiwan for business, and your mother's cancer diagnosis when you were 13, for which she returned to Taiwan for treatment. You also report that your parents had strict behavioural expectations which you believed contributed to your detached relationship with them at times. You report a history of chronic anxiety.
4. At your private school in Brisbane you had difficulties fitting in and were often subject to racist taunts by your peers. Nonetheless you were determined to do what was required to meet your challenges. Your school results were below average for your ability. Following this, you completed a period of military service in Taiwan for four months before returning to Australia for tertiary studies.
5. You left home at 19 years of age. You gained entry into a Bachelor of Industrial Design at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and then moved to Melbourne to pursue further education and employment opportunities, transferring to RMIT. You successfully completed your bachelor's degree and later completed a Masters in Entrepreneurship in 2022.
6. You have a consistent work history, primarily in design and marketing roles. Up until you were charged, you had been employed at a furniture and lighting company for approximately nine years. You informed your employer of these charges and were 'let go'. You are currently operating your own freelance graphic design company. However, you are concerned about the long-term impacts of the offending upon your career.
7. You are currently single. You reported a history of three intimate relationships, the third and most significantly of which was with a Ms Gwendolyn Tan, originally from Singapore and who moved to Australia to pursue the relationship with you. The relationship was marked by conflict both internally - Ms Tan wanted you to work less and pay more attention to the relationship - and externally with your parents. You state that your mother did not like Ms Tan and your parents strongly disapproved of the assistance you provided to Ms Tan in obtaining a spousal visa. You reported periods of sadness due to the conflict with your parents regarding Ms Tan's visa status. However, your mother and older sister have been your primary emotional supports.
8. Intimacy between you and Ms Tan declined in the last three years of your relationship. This caused you frustration and led her to seek intimacy elsewhere. You viewed this as a betrayal that you could not navigate around. Your response was to spend more time at work and more time viewing online pornography. This was the context for your offending. Your relationship with Ms Tan ended shortly after you were charged, however you remain on friendly terms. Ms Tan has provided a letter in support to the Court (Exhibit 7LWL). Since your arrest, you have ceased viewing pornographic material of all kinds and no longer use social media or chat applications.
9. You report being a mild social drinker, occasionally binge drinking, however, never dependent upon alcohol. You commenced using cannabis at the age of 19 and your usage increased in your 20s and at times, you used cannabis multiple times a week. Your use would increase more often when you were experiencing stress and anxiety. You have ceased cannabis usage since your arrest and you are motivated to remain abstinent.

1. Exhibit 4 LWL was a psychological assessment report from Dr Matthew Barth. Exhibit 5 LWL was a clinical report from Kyle Miller, psychologist, detailing your progress in and response to treatment over some 40 sessions since you

self-referred on the advice of your legal representatives. Mr Miller's report does not focus upon risk assessment. 2. Mr Miller described your offence pathway in the following terms: you felt betrayed by your partner's infidelity and by your circle of friends who were aware of the circumstances. Your response was to withdraw socially, work long hours and increase your pornography consumption. You first encountered child abuse material in late 2023. You developed a preference for text-based interactions with other users on the Teleguard platform. You became increasingly aroused by conversations involving rape, incest and dominance play. You knew your behaviour was wrong at the time of the offending but you continued to engage in behaviour due to your arousal and excitement. Significantly you stated to Mr Miller:

'I was disgusted... It was almost disbelief.... As time goes on, you talk to more people and it sort of normalises it. It was exciting that you find that character... Was a sense of guilt became an adrenaline rush.... I was seeking confidence in some twisted ways in the virtual space with people I don't know.'

3. Initially you demonstrated limited insight into your offending but you demonstrated a willingness to engage in the treatment process to enhance your understanding of your offending. For treatment purposes Mr Miller formulated your offending behaviour as an attempt to enhance your sense of control, arousal, excitement and esteem in the context of your relationship difficulties and lack of sexual intimacy with your partner.
4. Mr Miller reports that you have made very good progress in multiple domains of the treatment program and have shown improved insight into your offending. He states you said:

At the time I had no control over my real-life, and parts about role-play getting a sense of control back that I was lacking in real-life settings... I was able to control or play in the way that I wasn't able to (in life).

... you ignore your morals, your values, ... I can't just say I was in an environment of stress or curiosity; there is obviously more desire to access this material, more than pure desire and curiosity... It's immoral and I still did it anyway.

1. You are eager to continue with treatment. Mr Miller identifies that future treatment would focus upon consolidating the gains you already made, and upon relapse prevention.
2. Dr Barth focused upon your interpersonal and sexual adjustment and your risk of re-offending. He set out your personal history. He described you as a:

... dependent individual with a strong need for connection with others, with low self-esteem and with considerable self-doubt.

You try to avoid conflict whenever possible, and your communication skills are hindered by your tendency to bottle up negative feelings.

'He has a particular difficulty communicating assertively [Dr Barth noted]. This has contributed to ... intimacy related issues in his relationships.'

The apparent impact upon you of your partner's perceived infidelity led you to feeling very disillusioned, resentful and inadequate. This led you to supplement your interpersonal needs with recourse to online pornography and sex chat.

1. You reported viewing mainstream adult pornography on a regular basis since your teens. Your online sexual behaviour became problematic during 2023 and your interests diversified from mainstream heterosexual material to more problematic content, including incest and child abuse material. Dr Barth notes:

... he engaged in sexualised Internet chat more frequently, mainly on the encrypted app Teleguard. The themes of the chats: included a prominent focus on sex acts with children. (He) admitted that he enjoyed the attention he obtained from being able to access taboo material and participating in online role-plays. He explained that the material he accessed and the chats he engaged in continued to become more deviant and depraved, which culminated in the offending conduct.

1. You enjoyed being able to arouse your online partners and you recognised that the process of sharing taboo material was in itself exciting for you. Dr Barth says:

... from my exploration of his response to the child abuse material he accessed and the fantasies he produced with others, it was clear that he had attributed a precocious sexuality to children and this formed the basis of prominent cognitive distortions about them (children). This in turn culminated in the deviant sexual arousal patterns which underpinned the offending conduct.

1. As I understand Dr Barth, you were sexually aroused by the material, and you were sexually aroused by the sharing of it, so that sharing satisfied further needs. That, I understood, was accepted by Ms Parsons on your behalf.
2. Your offending points to significant issues with your sexual adjustment, Dr Barth concluded. Your insight into your offending is still developing. Dr Barth endorsed your ongoing need for treatment to build upon the treatment gains already made and to embed insight into the deviant sexual fantasies which underpinned your paraphilic interests_._
3. He assessed you as a low to moderate risk of further online sexual offending, a risk level trending towards the lower range in the medium term with further participation in sex offender treatment:

His strong commitment to sex offender treatment, his positive attitude to continuing to address his psychosexual issues constructively, the absence of generalised anti-social attitudes and psychopathic traits, his excellent employment history and no criminal record all mitigate his risk.

1. Ms Parsons on your behalf conceded the only appropriate sentencing disposition for your offending was a term of imprisonment. The thrust of her submissions were that taken together, the circumstances were exceptional, permitting your immediate release. In support of this submission she relied upon:
   • Your plea of guilty, entered at the earliest opportunity, bringing with it the utilitarian benefit of saving the community the time and expense of a trial, indicating your willingness to facilitate the course of justice and also an indication of your remorse.
   • Your genuine contrition.
   • The short period of online chats and the relatively small, although still significant, number of child abuse images on your devices.
   • The fact, manner and extent of your engagement in treatment, where you have shown a keen willingness and need to understand your offending, resisting Mr Miller's suggestion of less frequent treatment sessions. Your engagement and progress in treatment was of an extent, she submitted, rarely seen in the courts in cases of this kind, and was borne out by the evidence that you gave in front of me
   • Your prior good character (while still of recognising that in cases of this kind, less weight attaches to prior good character).
   • Your extensive family support.
   • Your assessed low-moderate risk of further offending.
   • Your excellent prospects of rehabilitation.
2. The threshold she submitted had been reached to enable your immediate release upon an Recognisance Release Order.
3. Ms Vu on behalf of the Commonwealth Director submitted that having regard to the seriousness of the offending and all of the relevant circumstances, the applicable sentencing principles which were well-established and uncontroversial in matters of child abuse material, a sentence of imprisonment was the only appropriate disposition. It was however, she submitted, an appropriate exercise of the sentencing discretion for you to be released on a reconnaissance release order after serving a period of time in custody.
4. She submitted that the constellation of circumstances in your case was not uncommon or unusual in matters of this kind. It was not open to the court to be satisfied that exceptional circumstances existed that justified your immediate release.[1] She referenced the following and well-known passage cited in Tootell[2]

We must construe exceptional as an ordinary, familiar English adjective, and not as a term of art. It describes the circumstances which is such as to form an exception, which is out of the ordinary course, or unusual, or special, or uncommon. To be exceptional, a circumstance need not be unique, or unprecedented, or very rare; but it cannot be one that is regularly, or routinely, or normally encountered.

1. Mr Liu, the offending to which you have pleaded guilty is serious offending as is clear by the maximum terms of imprisonment that Parliament has seen fit to impose. Those who transmit or receive or possess child abuse material, to any degree, are bad actors in the industry of the abuse of children. They are customers and without customers there would be no market, a market that is based upon a fundamental betrayal of our common humanity by the degrading and traumatising exploitation of children for the sexual gratification of others. A term of imprisonment will almost inevitably be imposed for those who come before the courts.
2. Child abuse material is not victimless. The images you accessed, transmitted and possessed included depictions of the violation of real children and infants, images of pre-pubescent children made to engage in penetrative acts: images quite simply of complete depravity.
3. Any notion that text-based material or anime somehow represents a lesser offence without attendant harm needs to be firmly corrected. Whilst it does not depict the actual violation of children, it has the ability to normalize the sexual exploitation of children, and in such normalization both feeds the demand for such material and may influence the actions of those who receive it.
4. It is unclear to me how you found your correspondents. What is clear, however, is that having found your online tribe, you gave free rein to your perverted desires, transmitting and receiving images of the utmost depravity. You and your correspondents celebrated the violation of young children. You casually shared and received such images with consummate ease and without thought for the child victims. You did so with the purpose of gaining acceptance from your new online cohort and you did not give a thought for the victims whose violation is depicted in the images you so callously and unhesitatingly shared.
5. Further, with the growing number of platforms such as Teleguard and the like providing end to end encryption services, and thus the possibility of correspondence taking place in relative secrecy, the internet has become an even greater forum for the abuse of children. The availability of these encrypted platforms enables such file sharing in circumstances believed by the participants to be hidden from the eyes of law enforcement. Such platforms enable the legitimisation and sharing of desires that once would have been hidden from view and attended with a degree of guilt and shame and self-loathing, but which are now celebrated in the virtual world. There is a plain need for general deterrence to deter those who would use encrypted platforms for such purposes
6. Whilst I accept that the number of child abuse material images on your devices was certainly not as extensive as is so often encountered in these courts, 230 files and images remains a not insignificant number. This was not mere curiosity, as indeed you accept, but rather an expression of sexual desires. I accept there was no suggestion of personal profit. I accept that you made images available only to your correspondents. But it is however, difficult to conceive of more depraved material than the sexual violation of the very young.
7. It may be, Mr Liu, that you were feeling betrayed by your intimate partner and that you retreated into the online world in search of sexual gratification and some security: but neither context nor the needs that were satisfied could excuse your offending. The ease with which you transmitted images and text of such depravity, demonstrates clearly that any moral compass you possessed had long been abandoned: a fact of which you were only too aware. Your moral culpability for this offending is high.

1. The Federal sentencing regime is set out in Part 1B of the Crimes Act (Cth) 1914. Under that regime, the court must impose a sentence that is of a severity that is appropriate in all the circumstances. That requirement must obviously be read together with the need to ensure that a person is adequately punished for the offence. I also take into account the matters set out in s16A of that Act, to which the court must have regard when passing sentence on federal offenders.
2. Section 16A(2) sets out a non-exhaustive list of factors that the court must take into account, where they are relevant and known to the court. Of particular relevance to your case are the nature and circumstances of the offence, general deterrence, specific deterrence and your prospects of rehabilitation, your contrition, your guilty pleas, the need for adequate punishment, your character, antecedents, age, and means, and your cooperation with law enforcement authorities.
3. Section 17A makes clear that imprisonment is to be a sentence of last resort, only to be imposed where the court is satisfied that no other penalty is appropriate in the circumstances of the case. I am so satisfied and direct that my reasons for so finding be entered into the records of the court. Ms Parsons, counsel on your behalf, conceded that point.
4. For offences of this kind the law requires that you serve a term of imprisonment before being released upon a Recognisance Release Order unless I am satisfied there are exceptional circumstances[3]. I am not so satisfied that the matters relied upon, jointly or severally, do amount to exceptional circumstances. The matters relied upon, whilst auguring well for your rehabilitation, are often encountered. No particular vulnerability or hardships has been identified or relied upon by your counsel. However, they do allow me to place you upon a Recognisance Release Order after a shorter term than might otherwise have been the case.
5. I have regard to all the matters urged upon me by your counsel. I have had particular regard to:
   • Your plea of guilty.
   • Your contrition and remorse, which I find to be genuine.
   • The relatively short time period over which the on-line chats took place and the number of child abuse images on your devices.
   • Your engagement in treatment.
   • Your prior good character.
   • Your extensive family support.
   • Your assessed low-moderate risk of further offending.
   • Your prospects of rehabilitation for which I accept there are grounds for considerable optimism.

1. On Charge 1, you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 13 months.
2. On Charge 2, you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of nine months.
3. The sentence on Charge 1 is to start three months after the start of the sentence on Charge 2. That makes a total effective sentence of 16 months.
4. I order that you are to be released on a Recognisance Release Order after a period of four months. The terms of that release will be that you enter into a recognisance in the sum of $2,000 to be of good behaviour for a period of two years.

Mandatory conditions (pursuant to s20(1B) of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth))

• be subject to the supervision of a probation officer (Deputy Commissioner, Community Correctional Services and Sex Offender Management or his or her nominee) for a period of 18 months; and
• obey all reasonable directions of the probation officer (Deputy Commissioner, Community Correctional Services and Sex Offender Management or his or her nominee); and
• not travel interstate or overseas without the written permission of the probation officer (Deputy Commissioner, Community Correctional Services and Sex Offender Management or his or her nominee); and
• undertake such treatment or rehabilitation programs that the probation officer (Deputy Commissioner, Community Correctional Services and Sex Offender Management or his or her nominee) reasonably directs; and

Conditions necessary to give effect to mandatory conditions

• report to the Melbourne Community Corrections Centre located at 50 Franklin Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 within two clear working days upon release from custody; and
• report to, and receive visits from, a Community Corrections officer or officers; and
• notify an officer at the specified Community Corrections Centre of any change of address or employment within two clear working days after the change; and

• attend for assessment and, if assessed as suitable, treatment for sex offender programs or programs to reduce re-offending as directed by Deputy Commissioner, Community Correctional Services and Sex Offender Management or his or her nominee; OR (if already assessed by the Deputy Commissioner, Community Correctional Services and Sex Offender Management or his or her nominee as suitable)
• attend, undertake and complete the Sex Offender's Program within a period of 18 months.

1. Pursuant to the provisions of the Sex Offender Registration Act 2004 (Vic), you are now a registerable offender and the period of your mandated registration is a term of 15 years.
2. I am going to sign the Recognisance Release Order and I am also going to sign a notice saying that you have been informed of the requirements under the Sex Offender Registration Act.

[1] Crimes Act (Cth) 1914 s20(1)(b)(iii).

[2] R v Tootell ex parte A-G Queensland [2012] QCA 273 citing R v Kelly [1999] UKHL 4; [2000] 1 QB 198 at 208.

[3] Section 20(1)(b)(ii) Crimes Act (Cth) 1914.